Comparison of atracurium and d-tubocurarine for prevention of succinylcholine myalgia.

We compared the incidence of postoperative myalgia (POM) and fasciculations when atracurium (ATR) or d-tubocurarine (DTC) was given prior to succinylcholine (SDC) for tracheal intubation in 44 ASA class I or II outpatient females undergoing laparoscopy. The subjects were assigned to one of three groups: group 1 received 0.025 mg/kg ATR; group 2 received 0.05 mg/kg DTC; and group 3 received saline (NS), all in a double-blind manner. Thiopental was administered 1 min and 45 sec after pretreatment in doses adequate to allow control of ventilation. Three minutes after pretreatment, SDC 1.5 mg/kg was given, and fasciculations were recorded on a scale of 0-3. All patients were questioned 1 and 3 days postoperatively about POM, using a scale of 0-3. Fasciculations occurred in 79% of patients given saline, in 46% of those receiving ATR, and in 12% of those given DTC. Eighty-five percent of ATR patients were free of POM on postoperative day 1. The corresponding figures for DTC and NS were 59% and 43%, respectively. Only the difference between ATR and NS achieved statistical significance. On the third postoperative day, POM was rare and there were no significant differences among the groups. We conclude that DTC is a better defasciculant than ATR. DTC was, however, not significantly better than NS in the prevention of POM. The findings suggest that ATR may be the drug choice for the prevention of POM.